New York What an azure night it was late in October when many notable big things around the world were lit with blue lights to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the United Nations, set up after World War II to try to keep the lid on future conflicts and build a bit of harmony around the planet.

There are more pretty pictures here, at a site called Egyptian Streets, where most of the pics below come from and where they are attributed to the right sources.

While no doubt everyone's intentions are terrific, you have to wonder how much actual peacefulness has been brought about by the UN ever since the 40s. We may not have had world wars since then but there have been, and continue to be, some doozies of the more limited yet still lethal kind.

The Guardian newspaper in UK has been wondering too. A really good article here explains writer Chris McGreal's scepticism about the times when those famous blue helmets haven't been up to much.

What a shame they've sometimes fallen short. The UN's blue colour is supposed to stand (some say) for the colour of the sky that arches over all of us. And which should, in that case, symbolise that we're all in this together. And that fighting is therefore pointless.​Making that so needs to be more important than lighting up the world's tourist attractions. Lovely though it all looked on the night.

Backgrounder

Hi, I'm Lindsey Dawson. I write books and do some writer mentoring. And on the side I wonder why it is that blue is the world's most popular colour. Maybe it's because I've had my share of 'bolts from the blue' that hit all of us from time to time - the potent taps on the shoulder that come along to make us pay attention to living big and shining bright. For after all, small and dull isn't what we came here for, huh? There's more here.